Treatment Methods Commonly Used in Conjunction with Functional Assessment

Abstract

Treatments designed to address the function of behavior have become a hallmark of behavior analysis. To identify environmental variables maintaining problem behavior a functional analysis is typically conducted prior to developing treatment. This process allows the clinician or researcher to understand why the problem behavior occurs such that the treatment can be tailored to address those variables (e.g.. by rearranging reinforcement contingencies or addressing the motivating operation). Environmental variables responsible for maintaining operant behavior fall into three broad categories: social-positive reinforcement, social-negative reinforcement, and automatic reinforcement. This chapter focuses on function-based treatments for challenging behavior such as self injurious behavior (SIB), aggression, or disruptive behavior. Because procedures may vary depending on the function of behavior treatments for social-positive reinforcement, social-negative reinforcement, and automatic reinforcement are discussed separately. When discussing reinforcement-based procedures, we refer to the use of the functional reinforcer identified via a functional analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved). (chapter)